Chautauqua made an outstanding return to racing in Saturday’s Group II McEwen Stakes (1000m) at Moonee Valley.

Chautauqua ($2.60 fav) came from the second half of the field to beat Flamberge ($5.50) by 1 ½ lengths while Furnaces ($5.50) was third.

This is what the jockeys thought of the performance of their rides in the McEwen Stakes.

Race

Horse

Jockey

Comment

1st

Chautauqua

Dwayne Dunn

They went that quick and he was nice and smooth through the transition and he handled the track really well and that’s a bonus going forward. They weren’t going to quicken again from the turn so he was able to run home and pick them off.

2nd

Flamberge

Vlad Duric

Winner was just too good.

3rd

Furnaces

Patrick Moloney

I thought I was the winner at the top of the straight but he was just beaten by two seasoned Group I horses. He’s still a three-year-old and it’s onwards and upwards for him.

4th

Klishina

Craig Newitt

Went great but she was just outclassed.

5th

Sweet Emily

Harry Coffey

She ran really well. To run fifth in a Group II is a pretty good effort up against some of these elite horses so it was a really good training effort by Phil (Sweeney). There’s probably improvement.

6th

Tycoon Tara

Craig Williams

She’s a really mature mare and she competed really well first-up against those horses with the way the race was run. She’s in for a nice spring.

7th

The Quarterback

Matthew Allen

Ran super. Just run off his legs early. But he went well. He saved ground on the inside and he kept on really well.

8th

Kuro

Mark Zahra

Ran all right. He got a bit of a bump at the 200(m). He’ll improve a lot from that.